Sri Rudram - 4: 7 - 17

Meaning:

Salutation to those who have wisdom and yogic powers and also to those who are not intelligent, confused and quarrelsome.

Notes:

Rudra is omnipresent. He is the soul of all the beings, both intelligent and unintelligent. Kṣullaka means wicked, malicious, abandoned. Former represents dharma and the latter represents adharma. As Rudra is omnipresent, He is both in the form of dharma and adharma. If adharma predominates, He does not hesitate to annihilate them.

An individual soul (jīva) and (Brahman) God are considered as different out of ignorance whereas in reality, both remain the same.

नमो रथिभ्योऽरथेभ्यश्च वो नमः॥

namo rathibhyo'rathebhyaśca vo namaḥ || (4:8)

Meaning:

Salutations to those who travel in chariots (in today’s context it means vehicles such as cars, etc.) and to those who do not have vehicles (chariots).

Notes:

Salutation to you Rudra, who remains as the soul in both the rich and the poor. He is always a witness to all our actions. Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad (VI.18) says, “He first created Brahma and then presented the Veda-s to Him. I, a seeker of liberation, take refuge in that luminous Lord who reveals the knowledge of the Self in the mind.”

नमो रथेभ्यो रथपतिभ्यश्च वो नमः॥

namo rathebhyo rathapatibhyaśca vo namaḥ || (4:9)

Meaning:

Salutations to the one who is in the form of chariots and the owners of the chariots.

Notes:

This mantra says that He is present both in sentient and insentient beings. The Supreme Consciousness in its purest form is the Brahman, from whom all sentient and insentient beings evolve. The sentient and insentient things put together are called matter. Matter is always subjected to changes and modifications resulting in their ultimate destruction. Whatever grows has to ultimately cease to exist one day. This is explained in Lalitā Sahasranāma 244, Cāracara-jagannāthā चारचर-जगन्नाथा. “She controls both sentient and insentient things of the world. She is the cause for both static and kinetic energies. Pure static energy is Śiva and Śaktī is predominantly kinetic energy, though static energy of Śiva is also present and their union is the cause for creation. Sentient and insentient means these two energies.”

नमो सेनाभ्यः सेनानिभ्यश्च वो नमः॥

namo senābhyaḥ senānibhyaśca vo namaḥ || (4:10)

Meaning:

Salutations to you in the form of soldiers and the chief of soldiers (army generals).

Notes:

Senā also means human body. Sensory organs are the soldiers and the chief of soldiers means the mind. Mind is the controller of all sensory organs. Hence a lot of emphasis is given to prāṇāyama, which is capable of controlling the mind. This mantra says that He is both in the form of sensory organs, as well as the mind which controls them. In grosser terms, He is both in the form of soldiers and their chief in a battle field. Battle refers to the war between dharma and adharma.

नमः क्षत्तृभ्यः संग्रहीतृभ्यश्च वो नमः॥

namaḥ kṣattṛbhyaḥ saṁgrahītṛbhyaśca vo namaḥ || (4:11)

Meaning:

Salutations to you in the form distributors of chariots and the charioteers.

Notes:

Instead of distributors of chariots, it is explained as teachers who teach how to drive a chariot. In other words, He is in the form of both the teacher and the students.

नमस्तक्षभ्यो रथकारेभ्यश्च वो नमः॥

namastakṣabhyo rathakārebhyaśca vo namaḥ || (4:12)

Meaning:

Salutations to you in the form of carpenters and those who make the chariots.

Notes:

Carpenters do the wood work for the chariots and makers of chariots refer to those who do artistic/design work on the chariots.

नमः कुलालेभ्यः कर्मारेभ्यश्च वो नमः॥

namaḥ kulālebhyaḥ karmārebhyaśca vo namaḥ || (4:13)

Meaning:

Salutations to you in the form of carpenters and blacksmiths.

Notes:

This mantra has a subtle meaning. It says that a yogis are capable of taking any type of bodies due to their yogic power. A Yogi, the one who has conquered his senses establishes a link between the subject and the object during his experience, thereby knowing both the object and the subject simultaneously. An enlightened yogi continues to know the experiencer in the three lower levels of consciousness. For him, the link between the object and the subject is established by circumventing the mind, as the mind causes impressions. A yogi does not get satisfied with the intriguing bliss hence, he progresses further and further to know the One who causes this bliss. Bliss is nothing but the entry point into Rudra’s expanded cosmic energy

At the same time, if a yogi falls from his heights, it is due to his association with siddhi-s and thus falls from his spiritual pinnacle. This stage is also called karmāra. If by chance, he begins to develop desires arising out of wants, it signals the downfall of the yogi. He then comes under the grip of ignorance, illusion, etc all at the same time, thereby making him yet another empirical individual, ready for further transmigrations.

This mantra says that Rudra prevails in both of them.

नमः पुञ्जिष्टेभ्यो निषादेभ्यश्च वो नमः॥

namaḥ puñjiṣṭebhyo niṣādebhyaśca vo namaḥ || (4:14)

Meaning:

Salutations to you, who is in the form of bird hunters and fishermen.

Notes:

We can always observe that we do not get what we desire and we blame our fate for this. What we are destined to get, we will surely get it at the right time and at the right place. When we begin to realise the fact that both good and bad effects of an action do not belong to us, it is a clear indication that we are moving in the right direction. The Lord does not distinguish between good and bad, as they manifest because of their own karmas. As Rudra manifests in the form of bird hunters and fishermen, He is omnipresent and does not choose to stay only with good, by discarding bad.

नम इषुकृभ्यो धन्वकृद्भ्यश्च वो नमः॥

nama iṣukṛbhyo dhanvakṛdbhyaśca vo namaḥ || (4:15)

Meaning:

Salutations to the one who is in the form of makers of arrows and bows.

Notes:

Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad (II.ii.3 and 4) explains bow and arrow concept. “Knowledge about Brahman is bow and the individual self is the arrow for this bow. Sharpen this arrow by meditation. Draw the bow and fix it on Brahman (withdrawing the mind from worldly thoughts and fix it on Brahman, which is the target). Without any mistake, if the target is hit (Brahman is attained), arrow becomes one with the target. The individual self has become one with the Supreme Self (Brahman).”

नमो मृगयुभ्यः श्वनिभ्यश्च वो नमः॥

namo mṛgayubhyaḥ śvanibhyaśca vo namaḥ || (4:16)

Meaning:

Salutation to you in the form of animal hunters either with hunting dogs or without hunting dogs.

Notes:

Hunting dogs help hunters to hunt small animals. Hunters also pray to Him before stepping out for hunting. Their livelihood is based on what they get during their hunting.

नमः श्वभ्यः श्वपतिभ्यश्च वो नमः॥

namaḥ śvabhyaḥ śvapatibhyaśca vo namaḥ || (4:17)

Meaning:

Salutation to you, who is in the form of dogs and those who protect the dogs.

Notes:

Rudra is omnipresent. Bhagavad Gītā (V.18) says, “Wise men look upon with the same eye on Vedic pandits, a cow, an elephant, a dog, etc.” Wise men do so because they are aware that Rudra prevails in everyone.